President Trump Tuesday admitted he’s been protecting Vladimir Putin over the Russian strongman’s refusal to end — or even scale back — the war in Ukraine.
After seeing his pleas for peace talks or a ceasefire go unanswered for months, Trump conceded that he’s defended Putin in discussions over what to do next about Russia’s new attacks in Ukraine.
“If it weren’t for me, lots of really bad things would have already happened to Russia,” Trump wrote on his social media site. “And I mean really bad.”
Despite the telling admission, Trump inferred he may soon shift course and impose some cost on Putin for continuing the invasion of its smaller neighbor.
“He’s playing with fire,” Trump exclaimed, without elaborating.
There was no immediate response from the Kremlin.
Putin has shrugged off several previous outbursts from Trump, including branding the U.S. president’s call for an end to “crazy” air strikes last week as an “emotional reaction.”
Trump vowed to end the war in Ukraine on the campaign trail but so far has seen little to no progress toward that goal since taking office four months ago.
He says he believes Putin wants to end the war but the strategy of mostly taking Russia’s side appears to have backfired by giving Putin little reason to make concessions.
Trump conceded to Russia’s demands that Ukraine be permanently barred from joining NATO and must give up Russian-occupied lands including the Crimea.
He hasn’t appeared to get anything in return from Putin. Instead the Russians seem confident they can win more ground on the battlefield and eventually get a better deal when or if they decide to end the war they launched when they invaded its sovereign neighbor in 2022.
Trump demanded both sides accept his unilateral call for a ceasefire months ago. Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy agreed, but Putin snubbed Trump and has stubbornly refused to end the fighting. Russia has instead escalated attacks on the front lines in occupied Ukraine and on civilian targets in Kyiv and other cities.
Despite Putin’s recalcitrance, Trump has refused to make him pay any price for ignoring his pleas. Trump continues to laud Russia as a potentially lucrative trading partner and says he hopes to hold a face-to-face summit soon, effectively sending mixed messages to the Kremlin.
